Entertainment

"Top Chef" Facebook Game Coincides With "All-Stars" Premiere

Top Chef fans gearing up to watch Wednesday night's premiere of Top Chef All-Stars can now play a new Facebook game featuring their favorite "chef'testants."

Top Chef Challenge — which launched today — gives players a chance to show which chefs they're rooting for during the show's newest season, where 18 contestants who nearly won previous seasons will compete once again for the "Top Chef" title. The goal is for players to get their favorite chef'testants as many points as possible each week a new episode airs, while earning some Top Chef badges. There's even a chance to meet the game's winning chef'testant.

Once fans playing the game pick their favorite contestant for the week, they will be directed to a page that lists three challenges that must be completed that day for their chef of choice to earn points. The players will also have to complete each challenge by a designated time.

The first challenge involves sharing a message with friends about which All-Star a player is supporting via Facebook or Twitter — this earns chef'testants five points. The next challenge requires players to share another message that explains why they're supporting a particular chef in order to earn that person 10 more points.

If both challenges are completed, fans are then given a bit.ly link to share with friends via various methods (Facebook, Twitter, e-mails and IM). The link leads everyone back to the original Facebook app — and every click that link receives will give a chosen chef 10 bonus points. Even if a chef has already been eliminated from the show, he or she can remain in the running on Top Chef Challenge. There will be a winning chef'testant each week — the challenge's weekly winner will be publicly visible on an "All-Star Leaderboard" that refreshes in real time.

Of course, this isn't the first time social media has been used as a promotional tool for a TV show. In September, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's sixth season kicked off with a social media campaign — fans could use the Sunny Tweets app on the FX website to post their thoughts about the show directly to its Facebook page or their Twitter streams. MTV has also been using a Twitter Tracker during a number of live events like the Video Music Awards and even a President Barack Obama town hall broadcast.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.